Very basically, Catholics include 7short books in the Old Testament not included in Protestant Bibles. By and Large there is much more agreement than disagreement on the Bible. NIV stands for New International Version
These are online Protestant versions.
New International Version
New American Standard Bible
New Living Translation
King James Version
New King James Version
Amplified Bible
Revised Standard Version
21st Century King James Version
NIV (verse by verse)
Worldwide English (New Testament)
Young's Literal Translation
Darby Translation
American Standard Version
bible.gospelcom.net
The New American Bible (online Catholic)
nccbuscc.org
Whose Canon? Which Bible?
gbgm-umc.org
As compared with the Latin Vulgate, the Hebrew Bible includes the entire Old Testament with the exception of the seven euterocanonical books, Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, I and II Machabees, and the deuterocanonical portions of Esther (x, 4 to end) and Daniel (iii, 24-90; xiii; xiv). So far as Jewish tradition testifies, these books end passages never belonged to the official Hebrew Bible, though Hebrew was the original language of Ecclesiasticus, most probably also of Baruch and I Machabees, and either Hebrew or the closely allied Aramaic, of Tobias, Judith, and the additions to Esther; also, according to some, the additions to Daniel. Even if several of these books were written in Aramaic, that fact alone would not account for their exclusion from the Hebrew Bible, since lengthy passages of Daniel (ii, 4, to vii, 28) and of Esdras (iv, 7, to vi, 18; vii, 12 to 26) are in that
language. The Protestant versions adopt the contents of the Hebrew Bible only.
newadvent.org
QUICK GUIDE TO BIBLE VERSIONS
Historic - Major Catholic, Anglican/Protestant Versions ( -1800)
· Latin Vulgate (St. Jerome) c.400: the Bible of the Western Church through the middle ages; still the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.
· Wycliffe (& Purvey) c.1385: first translation of whole (or most of) Bible from Vulgate into vernacular, medieval English -- [n.b. complete Wycliffe Bible not published until 1850].
· Martin Luther c.1522: translation of the Greek N.T. and Hebrew O.T. into vernacular German; still the standard Bible of German Protestants [Lutheran].
· Tyndale c.1525: translation of Greek N.T. [consulting Vulgate and Luther's German translation] and parts of Hebrew O.T. -- fixed the English translation style.
· Coverdale c.1535: little change from Tyndale's, but with new translations for previously undone portions of O.T. from Vulgate and Luther's [not orig. Hebrew]; Coverdale's PSALMS still used by Anglicans and Episcopalians in Book of Common Prayer.
· Matthew c.1537: Essentially Tyndale's but a publication authorized by the king (Henry VIII); the first authorized or licensed English Bible - [though license was extended to Coverdale's later editions].
· Great Bible (Cranmer) c.1540: revision of Matthew's Bible produced in a large size; undertaken at Cromwell's suggestion and claimed the "Bible appointed to the use of the churches".
· Geneva c.1560: revision/collation of Tyndale's and the Great Bible; first English translation to use the division into verses; considered most scholarly of early English versions; commonly used for many years - especially among Puritans - and commonly brought to America.
· Bishops' c.1568: a rebuttal by the bishops to the Geneva Bible (which they didn't like); borrowed heavily from Great Bible and, actually, also from Geneva Bible - including use of verses; uneven quality but formed basis for KJV.
· Rheims/Douay c.1582/1610: the official [English] Roman Catholic Bible; translation from Vulgate [n.b. Bishop Challoner revised in mid 1700's, sometimes called "Challoner-Rheims Version"].
· King James (or Authorized) Version (KJV or AV) 1611: the standard authorized Bible of most Protestant churches for 2+ centuries; used the original Hebrew and Greek to inform comparison/revision of earlier English versions - [leaned heavily on Bishop's Bible; much of the language actually goes back to Tyndale's].
Modern - Major English Language Versions (1800-1990)
· Revised Version or English Revised Version (RV or ERV) N.T. 1881, O.T. 1884: first major revision of KJV; done by lengthy committee process including Anglican and most Protestant faiths but NOT Roman Catholics.
· American Revised Version or American Standard Version (ARV or ASV) N.T. 1900, O.T. 1901: a re-edited version of the RV, basically the same.
· Moulton (Modern Readers') Bible 1907: a rearrangement of texts rather than a significantly new version, but an early attempt to "update" the Bible.
· Moffat Bible N.T. 1913, O.T. 1924: a new translation from early Greek and Latin texts - considered flawed because of the choice of source texts and the occasional rearrangement of verses but still a major work and fairly popular in it's time.
· Smith-Goodspeed or "Chicago" Bible c.1930's: [The Bible: An American Translation (AT)] first significant attempt to make truly modern language version.
· Knox Bible N.T. 1945, O.T. 1948: a new translation of the Vulgate bible; the New Testament was officially approved by the Roman Catholic church, though not supplanting the Rheims N.T. (first translation done by a single individual).
· Revised Standard Version (RSV) 1946-1957: an attempt to improve on the language of the RV/ASV; more widely accepted, but not supplanting KJV.
· Modern Language Bible (New Berkeley) (MLB) 1959, rev. 1969: another attempt at a modernization of the language leaning especially toward an American audience and working from the Greek and Hebrew texts.
· Jerusalem Bible (JB) 1966: Catholic translation based on ancient Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic texts, but closely following the French "Bible de Jerusalem" [n.b. begun well after the NAB NT (1941) was done, but finished before the NAB OT (1970)].
· New American Standard Bible (NASB) N.T. 1963, O.T. 1970: conservative, fairly literal translation from mainly Greek texts; attempt to repeat the RV process with more contemporary language; not very well-received.
· New English Bible (NEB) 1970: first completely new [Protestant] translation from original Bible languages into English since Tyndale.
· New American Bible (NAB) O.T. 1969, complete 1970 [added "Confraternity Version" N.T. of Douay]: The first significant Catholic translation since Douay-Rheims; working from original Greek texts mainly, rather than Vulgate (Latin); O.T. also made use of Dead Sea Scrolls; original N.T. rushed and mostly from Vulgate and later (1987) greatly revised/retranslated.
· Living Bible 1971: most popular "paraphrase translation".
· New International Version (NIV) 1973: a conservative, evangelically oriented translation from Greek and Hebrew texts.
· Good News Bible [Today's English Version] (TEV) 1966: "common language" translation from modern Greek/Hebrew texts; emphasis on effective and accurate communication to the common reader.
· New King James Version (NKJV) N.T. 1979, O.T. 1982: a revision of KJV to improve readability of text.
· New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) 1985: a revision following on the changes made in the French revision of the Bible de Jerusalem (1973) reflecting some new scholarship in research of the original texts and translations.
· New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 1989: the result of continuing revisions from the committee(s) who made RSV.
· Revised English Bible (REB) 1989: a revision of the New English Bible (1970), updating according to new scholarship in translation.
mtholyoke.edu
The Roman Catholic Bible
James McCarthy
Old Testament [120-123, 138] i
The Roman Catholic Old Testament is about 20% larger than that of non-Catholic Bibles. The additions, over
4,000 verses, come from a group of fifteen writings known since antiquity as the Apocrypha, meaning hidden or
hard to understand.
The Apocrypha contains valuable historical information of the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments.
Early Christian writers quote the Apocrypha; and some, such as Augustine, considered portions of it to be inspired
Scripture. Fourth century A.D. manuscripts of the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament made in the
third century before Christ, also include the Apocrypha. When the Apocrypha was appended to this translation is
unknown.
In 1546, the Roman Catholic Church officially declared that God had inspired twelve of the fifteen writings of the
Apocrypha, specifically, seven books:
Tobit
Judith
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
Wisdom of Solomon
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
Baruch and five passages: and five passages:
The Letter of Jeremiah, which became Baruch, chapter 6
A 107 verse expansion of the Book of Esther
The Prayer of Azariah, which became Daniel 3:24-90
Susanna, which became Daniel 13
Bel and the Dragon, which became Daniel 14
The Roman Catholic Church’s claim that these writings of the Apocrypha are inspired must be rejected for the
following reasons:
• The Apocrypha does not present itself as inspired. The author of 2 Maccabees says that his book is the abridgement of another man’s work (2 Maccabees 2:23). He concludes the book, saying, "If it is well written and to the point, that is what I wanted; if it is poorly done and mediocre, that is the best I could do" (2 Maccabees 15:38). Mediocre is a good description of the Apocrypha. Despite its historical value, it promotes questionable ethics, fanciful legends, and doctrine that contradicts Scripture.
• The Jews of Palestine never accepted the Apocrypha as part of sacred Scripture. Neither was there a Jewish prophet living during the time in which the Apocrypha was written (300-30 B.C.).
• Jesus and the New Testament writers did not treat the Apocrypha as inspired. Though the New Testament quotes virtually every book of the Old Testament, there is not a single quotation from the Apocrypha.
• The early church as a whole never accepted the Apocrypha as inspired. Moreover, many Christian leaders spoke against the Apocrypha, including: Jerome, Origen, Athanasius, and Cyril of Jerusalem.
• Even the Roman Catholic Church did not dogmatically declare the Apocrypha to be inspired until the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century. Roman Catholic priest Father. H. J. Schroeder, a translator of the decrees of the Council of Trent writes, "The Tridentine list or decree was the first infallible and effectually promulgated declaration on the Canon of the Holy Scriptures." ii The purpose of the Council of Trent was to counteract the Protestant Reformation. Protestants had rejected the Apocrypha. Rome
reacted by dogmatically declaring most of the Apocrypha to be inspired. The Apocrypha also included teachings that could help Rome defend its doctrine against growing Protestant criticism. For instance, Martin Luther had forcefully argued against Rome’s practice of selling pardons from purgatory. Tobit 12:9 supports the practice, stating, "…almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin." Even some Catholic writers acknowledge that Trent’s decision to accept the Apocrypha as inspired is
problematic. iii
New Testament [120, 124-127, 138-139]
The books of the Roman Catholic New Testament are the same as those of the Protestant Bible and the translations are generally reliable. However, some verses are translated with a noticeably Catholic slant. For example, the Catholic New American Bible translates a warning of Jesus to the Jews as saying: "But I tell you, you will all come to the same end unless you reform" (Luke 13:5, NAB). Here the Greek word metanoeo, meaning to change one’s mind or to repent, is translated to "reform," meaning to change into a new and improved form. Making matters worse, the chapter title to Luke 13 added by the editors of the Catholic New American Bible reads: "Providential Calls to Penance."
reachingcatholics.org
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